The original "Final Destination" was a darkly creepy thriller, a horror movie without a visible villian. While admittedly not a horror fan, I appreciated the fact that some thought went into the film's rules, the movie had some creatively done jump-scares and the performances were good. The sequel was likely an unplanned edition, pulled together after the moderate success (cartoon series "Family Guy" offered an episode that was somewhat a parody) of the original. It is exactly more of the same, but done in a way that's still tense and still occasionally rather clever.

The film opens with a trip for Kimberly (A.J. Cook) and her friends. Kimberly has a vision of a horrific traffic accident about to occur before she gets on the freeway, then stops traffic. The resulting traffic jam irritates many, at least until they see the accident they could have been in happen just up the road. As with the first film, Death's plans have been ruined and he comes after those who've escaped. The result: a lot of ridiculously elaborate scenes where the characters get taken out, one by one.

Clear Rivers (Ali Larter), one of the only survivors from the first picture, also returns. Locked up in a mental institution to protect herself from the continued threat. Despite an irritated entrance, Clear eventually decides to help out. There's not a lot of plot involved, just the main characters trying to save themselves, while also often restating the rules of the movie to each other, occasionally realizing new changes or differences. Although Kimberly's gift of some sort of psychic vision is an iffy idea, her putting together the pieces of the puzzle as the audience does adds to the involvement and tension that the movie manages.

"Final Destination 2" is a odd mix of personalities, which sort of appealed to me - the film seems a bit harder (the sequel is definitely a hard "R" and more, er...visual) and slicker than the first film, but that sort of mean-spiritedness is tempered by a sort of silliness that makes the whole thing rather entertaining and show that the film isn't taking itself entirely seriously. One particular bit of hilarity is when Kimberly has a vision that the next victims are going to be attacked by...pigeons. Still, these lines are delivered in a way that, amazingly, doesn't result in the kind of unintentional hilarity that takes one's interest out of the scene. Really, it's all the result of acting that, while mediocre in any other movie, works quite wonderfully here. Larter is especially fascinating as a "tough chick", a role that seems pretty unlikely for the actress.

A slick-looking and well-paced sequel, "Final Destination 2" isn't anything ambitious and story-wise, it's not even quite as developed as the first picture, but it's a fairly entertaining ride.